The 7 Benefits of Working in Partnership with a Recruiter
In a competitive public sector marketplace, hiring can be a long and drawn-out process for the hiring manager or senior employee within an organisation whose job it is to lead the process.
Encouraging the top talent to work for you in a skills shortage can be challenging.
And challenges come from not only the competition level but in writing job descriptions, arranging to advertise, setting up interview schedules, interviewing and assessing candidates – not to mention the onboarding process.
It can be extremely stressful.
All this can eat into your valuable time. And if you make the wrong hire, you have to do it all over again. Not only does this cost your organisation money, but it also has additional costs to you, your team and your organisation.
Finding the right people to fill a gap left when an employee leaves or is promoted can be challenging at the best of times.
Additionally, if you are looking to grow your team, finding the right talent to create your dream team requires time and understanding of the marketplace.
Not always as easy as it seems at first, is it?
So, maybe it's worth considering working in partnership with a recruitment business. What are the advantages, and is it worthwhile?
In this article, we address the pain points most hiring managers experience, and how a recruitment company can help alleviate them.
1. They understand the market
Having a thorough understanding of the public sector employment market is a crucial starting point. Insightful information is key to success, and a recruiting company will be adept at matching candidates who are looking for roles to the clients who have a vacancy.
Professional recruitment consultants understand the need for more than just a good salary offer – especially with more millennials entering the marketplace. Additional factors play a large part in job hunter’s decisions these days and individuals are looking for goals and aspirations in an organisation that matches their own.
Recruitment consultants are the industry experts – they have not only the strong connections and networks across the public sector marketplace they operate in, but a deep understanding of the necessary qualifications and skills required.
For example, a specialist recruiter will understand the need for a Head of HR to have not only the relevant qualifications, but maybe also high levels of personal integrity and an understanding of not for profit businesses the need for positive cultural change.
Or a Clinical Business Advisor who may need experience of working in a large, complex and ideally regulated environment as well as CCAB/CIMA accountancy qualifications.
2. They can source the best candidates
An excellent recruitment company will understand not only the marketplace in general but will get to know you, the client, well. They will take time to comprehend your culture, team dynamics, role challenges, onboarding process and how it's measured.
Building great client relationships is critical to a recruiter – it will enable them to match the ethics and values of your company with those of the candidates, ensuring the right fit into your organisational culture.
Integrity and honesty are essential – a good recruiter will have experience in the marketplace with a history of repeat business with clients. Longevity and repeat business means they know what they are doing and are well-placed to help you too.
Additionally, recruiters know who is looking for a new job role. They may even have someone suitable in their talent pipeline.
Their recommendations are based on your needs and requirements, and they are all about quality, not quantity. That means that the candidates a great consultant sends to you for interview are likely to all be prospective employees, not just numbers to make up the pack.
3. They can successfully sell your job role
Your advertisement needs to appeal to the ideal candidates who can deliver in key roles within your organisation.
But do you know what to include - and what to leave out?
Your recruitment consultant will know how to word the advert, so it appeals to the right candidates and includes all the relevant details.
So often, here at Westwood Harris Burns, we see a job role advertised with insufficient or misleading information which only puts candidates off applying.
The information candidates read in your job advert is their first experience of your organisation – so you want to come across as organised, detailed and knowing what you want.
4. They can help you prepare for interviews
Scheduling times; making sure the relevant personnel have all the details in their diaries, so no one is missing at the crucial moment; understanding the time frame between interview and offer.
There’s a lot to consider.
Professional recruitment consultants have been involved in interview preparation for many years and will almost certainly have a template for process and structure to help you prepare for the interview day, ensuring nothing crucial is missed.
5. They know the right questions to ask
Expert professional recruiters are adept at identifying exactly what questions to ask to get the answers you need to make an informed decision on candidates’ suitability for the role.
Your recruitment consultant will have developed an understanding of your organisation and the job role, which will enable them to advise on the right questions to ask prospective hires.
As they know the market, they are also able to ascertain what the current public sector trends and key areas to cover in your interview are, ensuring that you have a comprehensive approach in your questions to enable you to select the right employee.
6. They are experienced at making the offer
There’s a skill in knowing how and when to make an offer.
Time is a critical factor – leaving it too long can mean your dream candidate accepts an offer elsewhere.
Alternatively, you may make an offer only to find that the candidate wants to negotiate a deal on the offer package. How do you handle it?
Again, your recruitment consultant has a wealth of experience in handling these situations and can advise you on the best way forward.
7. They can help you onboard and retain staff
You might think once the interview is over and you’ve made an offer which has been accepted, that you can sit back and relax. Or at least, get on with your own job.
But this isn’t the case.
Successfully onboarding your new employee is essential.
A great onboarding experience will see your new member of staff settled quickly into their new role and actively contributing to productivity. It will enable them to fit seamlessly into your team, with clear guidance of training and development, an understanding of the role they play in the bigger picture, and a clear career pathway.
Failure to onboard correctly can result in it taking longer to embed the new employee into the team, difficulty motivating them and, in the worst-case scenario, seeing them decide not to stay.
And then you’re back at square one. And no-one wants that.
Studies by Harvard Business Review show that a good onboarding process reduces the average amount of time to reach full performance (making critical decisions with the right information in hand and having the right people in place to help execute) by a third; from six months to four.
So, it's worth getting it right: first time. And a professional recruitment consultant can help you with the correct process to achieve the best results.
Conclusion
Having addressed the different aspects of engaging new employees and the considerations to take into account for a successful process, you might now be thinking that working in partnership with an established professional recruiter could be a good move.
And you wouldn’t be wrong.
Your recruitment consultant can save you time, speeding up the whole process thanks to their contacts and experience in the public sector arena.
What might have taken you months can be achieved in a short space of time – sometimes just days - as recruitment consultants often know in advance if a candidate is looking to make a job move before they announce it officially.
They can also alleviate the stress of dealing with the process, giving you some breathing room so you can concentrate on the actual interview itself and selection process.
Finally, because reputation is everything in professional recruitment, you can be assured that they will help you onboard your ideal candidate and do everything in their power to ensure they receive the training, development and motivation to stay with your organisation, meaning it could be some time before you need to address the hiring process again!
Westwood Harris Burns are specialists in Executive Search and Senior Finance appointments within the Public Sector; with particular expertise in NHS, Housing and Charity Sectors. With over 60 years combined experience, we have extensive knowledge of the market, proven track records and established networks, allowing us to provide a wide range of services to both clients and candidates alike.
To learn more about how we can support you to either build your team or career, visit our Get In Touch page.
